Gunmen Attack NCS Officials, Free 6 Inmates In Plateau

Gunmen on Thursday attacked a convoy of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) and freed six inmates at the premises of the state High Court in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau.

ASC Martha Banda, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Plateau Command of NCS, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Jos.

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Banda listed the names of the prisoners who escaped as: Umar Adamu, Yusuf Adamu, Musa Abdulkasim, Mohammed Ibrahim, Bashir Mohammed and Shua’ibu Ado.

According to her, the incident occurred at about 10 a.m., adding that the inmates were at the court for trials.

She narrated that immediately the officials of the service arrived the court premises with the inmates, armed men started shooting sporadically, aiding the escape of the six prisoners.

“Today at about 10 a.m. at the High Court, Barkin Ladi, some gunmen attacked the court with sporadic gunshots and aided the escape of six inmates out of ten brought from Jos Prison for trials.

“Findings revealed that the inmates who were brought in prison van and escorted by five of our armed personnel, arrived the court premises at about 9: 55 a.m.

“The gate was immediately opened and as soon as they entered the court premises the gate was locked.

“In the process of unhandcuffing them, the attackers opened fire and six of the prisoners whose handcuffs were already removed, escaped, while the remaining four with the handcuffs were apprehended by troops of Special Military Task Force, Operation Safe Haven (OPSH),” the PRO said.

She said those arrested where handed over to the police, adding that a combined team of security personnel had commenced the search for the escapees.

She, however, said that no casualty was recorded during the incident.